Category: Targeted Programming
City of Mesa Parks & Recreation
Mesa, Ariz.
Year Awarded: 2019
The mission
Those with special needs and their families can hit obstacles when seeking out spaces that accommodate different abilities and sensory processing. Without the option to ask for modifications, people may choose to skip visiting an aquatics center.
For the city of Mesa, Ariz., home to an estimated 39,000 residents with special needs, that represents too many visitors potentially missing out the benefits of water. Mesa’s Parks, Recreation & Community Facilities (PRCF) set out to better serve its community.
Brilliance at work
In 2019, Mesa PRCF became the world’s first municipal parks department designated as a Certified Autism Center. To earn that status, it partnered with the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES).
The initiative required staff at nine aquatics facilities to undertake specialized training on how to work with people who have special needs. Training included understanding autism, sensory awareness, emotional awareness, motor skills, social skills, communication, environment, and program development.
Systems also were put into place to assess visitor needs and communicate locations or experiences in the facilities that might create sensory overload.
Mesa’s largest aquatics venue, Skyline Aquatic Center, underwent an on-site audit by IBCCES, which suggested certain modifications and ways to communicate the sensory experience in different areas of the facility. Skyline Aquatic Center developed a score system from 1 to 10 that indicates the level of sensory stimulation, with 1 being low and 10 being high. Visitors and families could then view the scores to decide how they want to spend their time at the center.
Special highlights
All staff, whether or not they work at the pools, completed sensitivity training to understand how to serve guests with special needs. Employees had to pass a written exam, and those who interacted with customers had to participate in ongoing training.
When people sign up for lessons, the online registration asks if the participant requires a “reasonable modification/accommodation to participate in this program or activity as provided under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).” If the answer is yes, the system asks the registrant to provide more detail on their needs. A PRCF inclusion specialist contacts those them to make arrangements before the program starts.
The latest
Since becoming a Certified Autism Center, PRCF has made supporting those with all different needs a cornerstone of its mission. For instance, it introduced private swim lessons at two locations last year for children who need individual attention.
In their first summer, private lessons were filled at 104% capacity. “After seeing their success, we expanded them to all our sites by summer 2024,” says Courtney Clay, communications specialist for Mesa Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities. “Since then, we've had over 300 participants in private swim lessons!”
Staff members teaching private lessons receive special training. Its Elite Swim Instructor training is led by full-time staff and supported by staff in the Adaptive Parks and Recreations programs, along with a swim instructor who is also a special needs therapist.
Mesa’s aquatics department teaches lessons to over 9,000 students (ages 6 months to adult) each year, and an estimated 3,000 children participate in swim, dive, water polo, and artistic swim teams. Being a Certified Autism Center allows families with special needs to have a supportive, inclusive space where children can learn to swim and enjoy water activities.
